Dr Thomas Gädtke

Partner
Member of the Executive Committee
Head of Litigation & Regulatory, Germany
Outstanding litigator, brilliant lawyer... excellent address with outstanding reputation in the industry.
— JUVE Handbook and Legal 500 Germany
MunichFrankfurt
About

Dr Thomas Gädtke is one of Germany’s leading litigators for complex commercial disputes. His practice focuses in particular on advising supervisory boards and representing companies in complex management liability and D&O matters, as well as strategically managing and litigating large-scale mass and collective proceedings of significant economic importance.

His practice also encompasses commercial and corporate disputes, product liability, financial services, and IT and technology matters. He has extensive experience in cross-border disputes and class actions, advises companies in connection with US discovery proceedings, and represents clients in international ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings.

In large-scale proceedings, his team deploys legal tech and AI-enabled solutions and works closely with the litigation-focused project lawyers at the DLA Piper Legal Delivery Center.

Dr Thomas Gädtke holds various leadership positions within DLA Piper’s international litigation practice and management. He is Co-Chair of the Global Class Actions Group and heads the firm’s Litigation & Regulatory practice in Germany. He is also a member of DLA Piper’s Global Executive Committee and Global Finance Committee.

Areas of FocusLitigation, Arbitration and InvestigationsClass ActionsInternational ArbitrationInsuranceFinancial ServicesIndustrialsConstruction and Engineering
Professional QualificationsRechtsanwalt admitted with the Rechtsanwaltskammer Munich

EXPERIENCE

  • Representing Entain Group in international mass litigation, defending several thousand damages claims relating to its alleged offering of unlawful online gambling services, including online casino games and sports betting.
  • Representing Volkswagen AG in mass litigation concerning warranty and damages claims in approximately 3,500 cases relating to reported emissions figures for diesel vehicles.
  • Representing Deutsche Bank AG in connection with damages claims against its former Chairman of the Management Board, Dr Rolf Breuer, arising from the consequences of the 2002 Bloomberg interview, including the related D&O insurance aspects.
  • Representing a leading international automotive group in mass litigation concerning warranty and damages claims relating to battery electric vehicles, including autonomous driving functions, over-the-air updates, maximum speed, battery performance and service life, and other alleged defects.
  • Representing a leading international automotive supplier in a widely reported cross-border CEO fraud case involving Germany and Romania, including the pursuit of claims against directors and officers and negotiations with D&O insurers.
  • Representing a leading international pharmaceutical and biotechnology group in a cross-border product liability dispute involving approximately 400 claimants worldwide.
  • Representing an international bank in enforcing claims arising from a widely reported, high-value loss resulting from the implementation of a reverse stock split transaction.
  • Representing an asset management company in numerous claims brought by institutional investors in connection with an investment fund.
  • Representing a leading international automotive supplier in pursuing claims against directors and officers arising from pricing and costing errors in the performance of several high-value contracts at plants in Eastern Europe.
  • Advising the holding company of an international insurance group on the assessment and pursuit of potential damages claims against former management board members in connection with unsuccessful international corporate investments.
  • Representing a leading international pharmaceutical group in pursuing damages claims in the hundreds of millions of euros against former managing directors arising from various compliance breaches.
  • Representing a leading group in the leisure, entertainment and food sectors in proceedings to enforce management liability and insurance coverage claims through a direct action against the D&O insurer, arising from losses in the high tens of millions of euros caused by miscalculations by the company’s former managing director.
  • Representing a leading international reinsurer in a complex dispute concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on event cancellation insurance.
Languages
  • German
  • English

Awards

  • JUVE Handbook: Recognised as a leading name for D&O advice and representation and for corporate disputes; frequently recommended for litigation and product liability disputes
  • The Legal 500 Germany Awards: Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year 2025; nominated in 2024, 2025 and 2026
  • The Legal 500 Germany: Recognised for several years as a leading lawyer in commercial litigation, insurance law and dispute resolution
  • Best Lawyers/Handelsblatt: Recommended for several years in litigation, insurance law, product liability, arbitration and mediation, and international arbitration; named Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability in 2021 and 2023
Education
  • Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Dr. phil. (philosophy), 2006
  • Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) Munich, second state examination (Zweites Staatsexamen), 1997
  • Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, first state examination (Erstes Staatsexamen), 1995


    Universities of Würzburg and Munich: Law, philosophy, modern history

Publications

  • Are third‑party litigation funders in mass proceedings a help or a disruptive factor? (co‑authored with Prof Dr Stefan Engels, LTO, May 2025).
  • Legal Roadmap 2025 (January 2025) - We navigate you through the significant changes in the field of dispute resolution.
  • GRUR-Prax 2023, 50 – Commentary on BGH XI ZR 515/21 (co‑authored with Dr Michael Stulz-Herrnstadt).
  • Nomos, Product Liability and Product Safety Law, 1st edition 2022, Sections 7–11 of the Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG) (co authored with Dr Isabel Kristin Fischer).
  • Bruck/Möller, Comprehensive Commentary on the VVG, 10th edition 2022, D&O Insurance (co‑authored with Prof Dr Christian Armbrüster), AVB D&O.
  • 'Premium Payment Obligation and Duties of the Policyholder', in: Lüttringhaus/Korch (eds.); Transaction Insurance, 1st edition 2022.
  • 'D&O Disputes', in: Servatius (ed.), Corporate Litigation, 2nd edition 2021.
  • 'Intra-Group Enrichment in Securing Prospectus Liability Claims in E&O Insurance?', in: Festschrift for the 100th Anniversary of the Faculty of Insurance Science at the University of Hamburg.
  • 'Brussels Ia is Coming - New Rules for Jurisdiction, Recognition, and Enforcement in Civil and Commercial Matters from January 2015', in: Dispute Resolution Online Magazine, 12/2014.
  • (All publications are in German Language)

Memberships And Affiliations

  • German Institution of Arbitration (DIS)
  • German Bar Association (DAV)
  • Association of German Jurists
  • German Insurance Science Association

My latest insights

Publication

Globalization of the class actions markets

4 October 2024 .1 minute read

News

Best Lawyers / Handelsblatt recommends a total of 98 lawyers from DLA Piper in Germany

16 June 2023 .1 minute read

News

Best Lawyers / Handelsblatt recommends a total of 90 lawyers from DLA Piper in Germany

23 June 2022 .2 minute read

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Phone

+49 89 23 23 72 161
(Work, Munich)
+49 69 271 33 0
(Work, Frankfurt)
+49 173 52 97 552
(Mobile)